got a new boat but whats the best fish finder?

[Fireman105]

Looking for good detail and gps

[CRAPPIEDENTIST]

I'll let ya know after I get my new HB997cSI installed on my boat,, was gonna go with the 1197 but due to the size of that unit Idecided ta get a unit with a smaller physical size...

JAKE

[crappie crazy]

fireman i have both lowrance and hummingbird the humm. is a 997 si with gps and the lowrance is a x27 with gps and hands down the lowrance is a better sonar and gps unit by far the hummingbird is ok but the only reason being is the side imaging factor on its side i have found alot of fish and structure with it i would not have otherwise hope this helps

[Gamblinman]

With Lowrance's late summer, or fall debut of side-imaging, Hummingbird will take a big hit on new unit sales. Lowrance's down looking sonar and GPS are far and away better than Hummingbird now. Purchase for the future and get one of the new Lowrance HD units that will accept the side-imaging when it debuts.

[Fireman105]

I'm really leaning towards the Lowrance® HDS-5 Fishfinder/GPS Chartplotter but nobody can tell me anything. I like it because the gps antenna is built in. anyone know anything about the HDS-5?

[IkenI]

Fireman - I have an older model Lowrance so I'm not familiar with the HDS-5 but before I got my Lowrance several people, that should know, told me that the built in gps antenna is okay if you mount your unit so it is straight up. If you have to tilt your unit quite a bit you can lose sensitivity depending on which direction your boat is pointing. As a result I got an external antenna and it has worked perfectly and isn't in the way.